PersonalResponsibility

In the context of Plymouth I don't think it's that odd. If you supported a football club who'd been on the brink of extinction, had a few iffy seasons and was now in the process of rebuilding, increasing crowd numbers and growing, I think you'd be pretty happy. Add in some entertaining home games, a safe mid table finish, even happier. I think it'd be weird if Plymouth fans were happy finishing bottom 3 every season, but they're going in the right direction, so it's fair enough they can find some positives.

"Championship clubs are nothing without Premiership clubs" "someone has to step up and fill one of the voids left by Oxford/Birmingham." "Club bosses need to block Glasgow from competing in the Championship and instead give them an ultimatum" Perhaps it's just me, but who is "nothing" without the other here?

I completely agree that's what they should do, however I'm not sure it'd be as easy as that. It wouldn't take many riders not to bother and you'd struggle to have a worthwhile sport to sell. As I said, the riders shouldn't be dictating the sport, but sadly it feels like we don't have much choice atm.

Let's hope this somehow happens. Hellstrom-Bangs v Bubba Bednar around the NSS would be a beautiful watch.

Can't agree that there's a need for the Championship to "serve" the Premiership. Both leagues are equally reliant on each other to prosper, it isn't a one-way thing. Your last point is sadly an indictment of the situation we've sleepwalked into. If the riders are demanding twice the money due to only having one team place: good for them. Equally, the clubs are justified in only offering what they're happy to pay. Sadly, we're now in a situation where this isn't practical because even a handful of riders quitting would be catastrophic, so the tail continues to wag the dog.

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It feels like boiling the frog with some people. It's crazy to think we've gone from an 8-team Elite League, 18-team Premier League, plus a decent conference league to what we have now in a little over 20 years. If that happened overnight there'd quite rightly be serious questions asked, if not something more serious. Yet here we are, still being told the sport is in good shape and has an exciting future.

Kemp, Batchelor and Worrall all finished as their team's #1, though. Unless there's a sudden influx of riders then they (or equivalent) will likely be someone's number one. I agree they're not on Dan Thompson's level, but I don't think many number ones will be.

I struggle to think of many who he won't beat? Masters and Lawson maybe, possibly Harris & Wright at a push, not much else. This is a rider who put 1.5 points on his average this year, I'd back him to comfortably beat the likes of Kemp, Worrall (if he rides), Batchelor, etc. Tom Brennan improved in a similar way at Glasgow and then averaged 9+ the season after. I think Thompson is a relatively slow burner but is going to be a very, very good rider.

According to this: http://www.gbspeedway.com/2025/riderperf.php?mc1=x&mc2=r&mc3=av&mc4=x&rider=Dan Thompson&league=B&sort=date&comp=All&club=Overall, Dan Thompson averaged more away than he did at home. I think he'll be fine.

I completely agree re. betting. I've said before that we have a sport that seems perfectly tailored for the modern generation, and I think that equally applies to betting. 4 riders, 15(+) races, so many opportunities to bet. That Bet365 have gone to the time and expense of creating Virtual Speedway to allow people to gamble suggests that there is clearly some interest somewhere. Even a minority % levy flowing through into British speedway would surely be useful?

Bartosz Zmarzlik & Daniel Nermark are two I always enjoy(ed) watching.

I have to say I didn't get the impression that the original post was suggesting it was speedway's fault, it was simply stating the reality. While I agree with your general point, I don't think we should completely disregard "use it or lose it". Ultimately, it's been so easy for developers to claim the land and build on it, because we are a minority sport with a dwindling number of attendees. It's not to say that they wouldn't have done the same anyway - it's their land after all - but how many tracks would've closed down if they had genuinely good attendances and were profitable for their landlords? I'm confident Newcastle would've survived, and would Eastbourne's owners turn down a healthy financial stream if it was available? The sport just doesn't have the financial or political clout to even begin fending off any of these developers, never mind winning the battle against them. When you compare the number of football stadia that's been closed down and built on against the club's will, the difference is stark. It sounds like some positive progress is being made with what you've mentioned, I would love more than anything for a real difference to be made. Ultimately, though, while it might not entirely be speedway's fault, or due to a lack of interest, that the clubs shut down, it's hard to say it didn't play a pretty big role. A successful, thriving sport is less likely to have their stadia and facilities taken away than one that's struggling.

A Paul Mulally appears to have had one job in football (after leaving the police) - Head of Football Operations at Portsmouth...with Harry Redknapp. There's a Miriam Bentley listed as working at Specialist Risk Group, who appear to be growing quite rapidly, including branching out into sports - and motorsports specifically. They are also listed as a 'partner' of Team GB. Finally, there's a Jason Holmes who's also involved in the insurance sector and covers "extreme sports" - but he's in Australia.

Surely you've heard all about Fish-O-Mania, live on Sky Sports Action, with its £50k first prize? https://fishomania.net/news/bradley-lucas-crowned-2025-fishomania-champion-in-record-breaking-debut/ Anyway, you can catch the Premiership on BSN next season. First prize is £2.50 and a voucher for the track shop.

I'd imagine they'd save a fortune doing this, especially as there'd be about 12 people watching every week.

If the Cardiff GPs that they "promoted" are being used to dispute his lack of experience then it's more worrying than we thought. Fingers crossed it's not as bad as it's being made out. The calendar has often been announced late in the year, so the end of October is hardly a cause for concern there.

Not really that difficult to understand, is it? Almost guaranteed trophies, a stable club, doubtless a good financial/sponsorship package. I assume it's also one of the closest Championship tracks to him, too, which helps being a 16yo. I know Glasgow fans are still unhappy about the track in the PO final, but if you're in Rushen's position and Poole are interested then it's very easy to see why he'd go there.

Seriously competitive league next year. Piła look like whipping boys at this stage, but most of the rest could be anywhere. Bydgoszcz's juniors will be sensational, but their top end isn't the strongest in the league. Can't wait for a good season.

What is it?

It would be quite cool if they relaxed the points limit a bit and made the best out of the 5 teams left over. If you could get Musielak/Rew/Wright/Janowski/Tungate into each team in place of their weakest rider, plus any other riders who weren't here last year, it would be a very strong competition. Lots of reason as to why this won't/can't happen, I'd imagine.

They probably wouldn't have done, which isn't ideal for him, but that's how it goes. Either accept the lottery of the RS scheme or accept the lottery of opting out. It would've been a shame for a young Brit to miss out obviously, but why bother with any sort of rules if you just don't apply them? I think we agree on the general point, the intention of the concept was a good idea, but it was bungled again by the people who created it. As you say, why bother announcing a rule that they don't bother following? I just wish they'd properly review the rules and regs and then stick to me, no budging. Too many times it's the tail wagging the dog or they've painted themselves into a corner like this.

That just reinforces what a daft system it was allowed to become. It is really classic speedway that something as straightforward as a draft can end up in a mess. X clubs, X riders, everyone picks one each in the reverse order of last year's league - how can anyone possibly mess that up? It's amazing. If Jordan Jenkins didn't want to lose all of his local sponsorship - which is absolutely fair btw - then he had the choice to opt-out of the RS scheme and wait for Ipswich to sign him. If they didn't, that's life. How many other riders have to go elsewhere up and down the country to get a job?

I thought it was interesting at the SON that Marcelina came across as a lot more natural than Abi often does. Maybe she's just a better presenter, but it is clear she's genuinely a speedway fan. There was one point in an interview with Kurtz that she recalled his league debut at Torun. It was completely minor at the time, but it stuck in my head. Does Abi have a clue who most riders are riding for outside of the meeting she's at? I feel like that depth just adds something. It might be team mates in Poland facing off, a rider's Polish/Swedish track compared to that meeting's track, etc., it would get that whole close-knit family aspect of speedway.

In fairness, if you've enjoyed the highlights enough to actually visit your local track (e.g., Poole), then that experience probably would've been decent, regardless of how much racing there was. Sadly, as you also mention, the usual 'experience' is crap, and sits somewhere between a Sunday League football match and a working men's social club. I agree with the rest of the posts on here, highlights might be the way forward + an actual modern social media presence. It's the perfect sport for the new generation with no attention span. Incredible action in 60 seconds and if it's rubbish, just wait for the next race in 3 minutes.